


Mother Dearest

by Anonymous_Nerb



Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Gen, Gotta admit I'm biased toward the former, I have two modes: pain for my characters and therapy for my characters, Psychological Horror, Takes place in early Oathbringer, early as in a third of the way through
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-20
Updated: 2021-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-29 01:06:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30148377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous_Nerb/pseuds/Anonymous_Nerb
Summary: Somebody runs into the Midnight Mother before they're ready. They regret it.I now understand the pain of writers having 20 WIPS at once. There's no containing my random desire to write [new thing I just thought of], is there.
Kudos: 2





	Mother Dearest

**Author's Note:**

> This is the same 'verse but not the same timeline as Nothing Ridiculous, for anyone who read that. In this, Taykz didn't survive, and Ember gave up on bonding for a while until Lift got Nale to stop deadifying Radiants. Ember had such high hopes for the third try! I kinda feel bad for doing this to Ember, with such crappy luck. Oop.

Arie strode through the tunnels of Urithiru, filled with excitement. Not much of it had been explored so far; who knew what he could find out, out there? But even that was nothing compared to the ancient legends coming to life. The Knights Radiant were back, and he was one of them.

Gradually, their path cleared out until Arie and Ember were alone in the hallways. At first, Arie didn’t mind it. The energy of his recent arrival, and all the possibilities of the tower, were invigorating. But soon, his spheres were the only source of light. 

Arie passed another hall, and heard a quiet  _ clack _ behind him. He didn’t turn around; it was probably just a coincidence. Those shadows in the corner of his eyes? Just imagining things. 

“There’s something wrong here.” Damnation, Ember felt it too. Didn’t Beren mention something about murders in the tower? Arie glanced behind him. Nothing. It was fine, he was safe, surely nobody would dare attack a Radiant? Arie sped up, resisting the urge to look back at the sounds that seemed to stalk him.

Arie was doomed. He had no idea where she was, and neither did Ember. What had he been thinking? The noises were all around him, now. Something just out of range, waiting for him to approach. He steeled his nerves. A fight may be inevitable, but he could win. “I can do this.” Ember said nothing. 

Arie turned around, facing the corner he had just come from. He ignored his heart, loudly pounding in the ominous atmosphere. All they had to do was go back the way they came, he could do this-

_ What was that _ . Instinctively, Arie sucked in Stormlight from the pouch on his belt. The hall was plunged into darkness, except for the wisps of light coming off of Arie himself. Arie didn’t care, though; he didn’t know what those dark monstrosities were, but he was getting  _ out _ . 

The groans and tapping that had thus far plagued him changed to blatant screeching. That, if nothing else, was a small blessing. Shaken as he was, Arie forgot to reinfuse her spheres, and was soon plunged into the darkness of the void. The auditory clues gave him a clue of where not to go. He would probably fail, though, anyway.

And yet, the chase didn’t end as quickly as it should. Once or twice, Arie heard growling right above where he had stumbled to a stop after running into a wall, but they always let him go. It was like some sort of sick game. 

Ember had fallen silent but for a few baseless encouragements. Arie wished he had never come to Urithiru, never entered a world of fantastical possibilities, if this was the fate that awaited him. Being slowly corralled by a herd of monsters to his demise. So much possibility, but it would soon mean nothing to him.

Arie could’ve sworn the growling was getting quieter, although that meant nothing with how he might as well be a plaything to the monsters. Still, he dared himself that small hope as he took another step - 

\- on open air. Arie fell down half a flight of stairs before he managed to slow and stop himself, aching with what would undoubtedly turn into some rather colorful bruises. Arie held his breath and stared into the darkness above him, terrified that he was heard. But the monsters came no closer, and he dared to slink down the remaining steps. 

Near the bottom, he could finally see again. Not much; faint shapes, at most. But it was enough to see the outline of a pillar, covered in - Kelek’s breath, were those  _ faces _ ?

Arie edged around the wall, careful to stay away from the pillar. He briefly considered going back up the stairs, but he quickly dismissed the idea. The... faces... hadn't done anything yet, and the idea of going back to the perfect darkness was not one he could make himself consider for long. 

Arie made it all the way around the room before his situation truly sunk in. He was trapped, with no way out but through the monsters that had driven him there in the first place. They wanted something from him.

With rising dread, Arie approached the pillar. The faces all stared at him, distorted yet filled with expectation. He swallowed, reached out a shaking hand and - and - No. He couldn’t do it. He pulled back.

Of course, just like everything since he had gotten lost, it didn’t matter. The inky slime that composed the face monster lashed out and clamped down on Arie’s retreating arm, stopping his retreat cold. 

The room, with its pillar and dim light, was gone. All that was left was Arie and the monster - Re-Shephir, he somehow knew - and a dim awareness of Ember screaming through their bond. The overwhelming terror, though, was dulled by how constant it had been for the past… how long had it even been? Arie couldn’t tell.

With the fear naught but an echo in his mind, all Arie could feel was a hungry curiosity from Re-Shephir. She wanted to understand him, wanted to  _ know _ . She saw his feeble bond with Ember and poked it -  _ disdain _ \- and, with a thought, it was gone.

Arie would’ve screamed, if he had a mouth to do it with. All he felt was the  _ pain pain pain _ of something that was part of him, being torn away. For what seemed like eternity, he could not think. But, just as quickly, it went away.

The room was back. Arie lay on the floor, gasping for breath. There were tears on his face, he could feel, yet none of the pain he expected after. After, after- No, what had she  **done** .

Arie could sense Re-Shephir in his mind, where Ember should be.  _ This… good, _ she crooned to him. He shuddered in response. She had taken away his bond. He was a Radiant no longer, turned instead into some unholy abomination of the void. Maybe it was okay to just, lie down and mourn all his hopes and dreams. 

Despondent, and somehow even more terrified than he had been before, Arie eventually did leave. The halls that had been so ominous before were so clear, now that he could see everything. The darkness was inside him now, letting him sense the creatures of dark ink that had terrorized him not long ago.

He arrived back at the tower proper. “Where were you?”, Beren asked. Arie shrugged and carefully avoided eye contact. Who knew whether it would reveal the Voidbringer he now was. Re-Shephir was eager, at seeing another human so soon. 

The next day, Arie was gone from the tower, which was finally free of the Unmade that had once been trapped within its walls. Beren was disappointed. He hadn’t known Arie for long, but the Dustbringer had seemed like great friend material.

Maybe he was still out there, though, fighting as a Radiant.

**Author's Note:**

> I love being reminded about random stuff on the Stormlight wiki because something pops up at me and, oh nice, a possible way for me to torture my characters! 
> 
> ...Why am I like this. Arie hates me so much. 
> 
> I like the open ending and all the possibilities it leaves open for Arie's future. I may or may not transplant the premise of this to Nothing Ridiculous, but I'll deal with that as I come to it.


End file.
